and his people back againe to receive him Answ 1. They being thus prepared the Spirit of God taketh up his seat in the soule by making it a Temple unto himselfe in the name of the Father and of the Son and so are they made an habitation of God through the Spirit Eph. 2.22 Gal. 4.6 And because yee are Sons c. where he speaketh not of Sons by actuall regeneration but by Gods Eternall Counsell The same Spirit is also called the Comforter whom Jesus Christ hath promised to send John 16.7,8,9 If I depart I will send you the Comforter and when he is come he will reprove the world of sin of righteousnesse and of judgement Of sin because they beleeve not in me This the holy ghost convinceth men of to be the greatest misery of the soule that they have not beleeved upon Jesus Christ And look as a Talent of gold or some weighty mettall falling into a Vessell of water dasheth out all that is in the vessell to make room for it selfe So the Lord Jesus Christ coming into the soule dasheth out all watry confidences and maketh room for himselfe so as that you may say the Eternall God is there and in very deed because the heart of man is not onely like unto water but is hard and stony therefore the Spirit of God cometh like fire and melteth the iron stone of the heart and softneth it into flesh that now the soul is utterly at a losse not onely in regard of his sins but in regard of his best works also and is most of all convinced of his unbeliefe Now the Holy Spirit of God bring thus shed abroad into the heart at the very first entrance of it into the soule us it doth chiefly convince the soule of Unbelief so 2 The same Spirit worketh faith in the soule to yeeld himselfe unto the Lord and the soule being emptied of himselfe now the Holy Ghost hath infused Faith to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and this is a true saving work though the soule thinketh it selfe in a very sad condition that he should so long live without beleeving in Jesus Christ But he is cleerly convinced what his case is and how vaine his best works are and he lyeth under this work not onely in his judgement but in his heart he now freely submitteth unto the will of God So that the Spirit of God becometh unto the soul not onely as a Spirit of burning to consume all that is like stubble but doth also melt the iron-stone of the heart and softneth it into flesh that the word may take deep impression in it Now there is room for Jesus Christ now faith is wrought there and now a soule can plead with God by faith in prayer he seeth there is no former Covenant that he can plead nor any righteousnesse of his owne but such as Hypocrites will quarrell for and rise up to maintaine as they did against John Baptist pleading their Covenant and their righteousnesse with these things a poore soule is not satisfied but unto you that feare my name shall the Sun of righteousnesse arise with healing in his wings c. Mal. 4.2 Herein is implyed such a reverent fear that dare not disaffect this kind of yeeldingnesse to the Son In the old Testament it is called Fear in the new Testament it is more generally called Faith yet the Apostle saith Rom. 11.20 Be not high-minded but fear whereby he provoketh them to live by Faith and indeed it is that whereby the soule doth yeeld unto the Lord and this is indeed our Effectuall Calling the Spirit of God taking possession in our hearts and working this faith in us whereby we submit unto the Lord. This is that faith in Jesus Christ that maketh us one with Christ for our effectuall calling bringeth us to be one with him 1 Cor. 1.9 God is faithfull by whom ye are called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ This fellowship or communion standeth in two things 1 In the Unity of the Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 2 In the receiving of Faith on our parts so that by beleeving which is the first thing we doe we yeeld unto the first work of God when this stronger man cometh we yeeld up all our Armour to him and herein standeth our coming on to be in Christ and in God the Father by this Spirit of God that taketh possession of the heart and hath not only burnt up root and branch of our legall righteousnesse but hath also melted us unto a soft frame to yeeld up our selves unto the Lord and now we are fit for any duty the Lord having possest us with his powerfull presence and this is true spirituall Union between the Lord our souls By this faith the Creature doth yeeld up it selfe unto the Lord which is also the work of the grace of God in us having brought us unto holy union w th himselfe Now this faith thus wrought in our effectuall calling is not built upon any Conditionall Promise I mean upon any Promise made to any gracious Condition penitent in us nor can it be built upon any but upon the Absolute free Promise unto the soule according to what we read Isa 43.22 to 2â— Thou hast not called upon me O Jacob but thou hast been weary of me O Israel thou hast not brought me the small Cattell c. See Calvin l. 3. justiâ— c. 2. s 29. In all which we see the absolute freenes of the grace of God So Ezek. 36.26 Object But you will say Though some may be converted by such an absolute Promise yet some mans faith may be built upon a conditionall Promise unto a gratious condition Answ I pray you consider it If it be a condition it is to some good Qualification or other some good work or other of the Spirit of God in the heart of a Christian Was this work wrought before Conversion or after Every Christian knoweth that all workes wrought before Conversion are but drosse and dung to apply Promises to such works were indeed to build upon a sandy foundation What say you then to works after Conversion All works after Conversion are fruits of Faith and if they proceed from faith then faith went before then a mans faith was not built upon a conditionall promise how is it possible that it should when as all works after Conversion are fruits of faith or else they are no true sanctification then faith went before in order of Nature and so was not built upon works but works upon it And therefore all our best Divines doe carry it thus That faith closeth with Christ upon a Promise of free grace otherwise as saith Calvin Justiâ— l. 3. c. 2. s 29. my faith would alwayes be trembling and wavering as my works be Upon a Promise of free grace therefore my faith is built as upon the Promise of God in Christ reconciling the world unto himselfe 2 Cor. 5.18,19 The word is it may be spoken outwardly unto
to be a Covenant so he giveth him also to worke all things needfull for our Redemption partly by his Passion and obedience unto the death of the Cross and partly by fulfilling the whole Law all righteousnesse for us The Lord Jesus Christ did fully accomplish whatsoever was requisite for him to accomplish in his owne Person 2 He doth perform all things needfull for the Application of this redemption unto our soules and to this end he it is that sheddeth abroad his Spirit into our hearts John 15.26 16.7 and when this blessed Spirit cometh he applyeth unto the soule all the gratious redemption of Jesus Christ by giving him and all the fruits of his redemption and by working all those blessed works that the souls of his people come to be partakers of and so performeth all those Conditions that are required on our parts If it be needfull for us to have faith he will work it in us If it be needfull for us to live a life of Faith he will help us so to live for it is not of our selves it is the gift of God Ephes 2.9 Thus hath the Lord made him a compleat Mediatour of this holy Covenant and whatsoever we receive we receive it from him for unto him first as the head of the Church are all blessings given and unto us all Promises in him are Yea and in him Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 for though Christ be not a sinner in his owne persons yet in respect of his Members he is many times lost in them though not in himselfe and poor in them though not in himselfe for us therefore he receiveth the Promises of God and that is the great security of them that they are laid up safe in him and belong unto us if we have Union with the head and in him we perform whatsoever God requireth whether we Pray or Preach or hear we doe all in the Name of Christ going forth in his strength and power Col. 3.17 Thus is the Lord Jesus Christ a firm Surety of the better Covenant Stablished upon better Promises Heb. 8.6 Vse 1. In the first place This may teach us a broad difference between the Covenant of works and the Covenant of Grace In the Covenant of works the Lord offereth himselfe as a Father his Son as a Redeemer his Spirit as a Sanctifier but this upon a condition of works Thou shalt have no other Gods but me and If they shall keep his Lawes and obey his voyce then they shall be a peculiar treasure unto him above all people Exod. 19.5,6 This also they undertake to doe Deut. 5.27 All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee we will heare it and doe it But O that there were such an heart in them vers 29. When they rebelled he did not pardon them gratiously but the Angel whom he sendeth with them he biddeth them beware of him and obey his voyce and provoke him not For he will not pardon your Transgressions for my Name is in him In the Covenant of Grace he will but not in this here is indeed a Conditionall Redeemer and Saviour and so it is expressed Isa 63.8,9,10 with many of them God was not well pleased almost with none of them but overthrew them in the wilderness Thus in the Covenant of works all is given upon condition of obedience 2 The Lord giving Himself his Son his Spirit upon condition though it be but to works yet he is pleased to receive them into some kind of relative Union expressed Jer. 32.32 Which my Covenant they brake although I was an husband unto them He was marryed unto them in Church-Covenant this was some kind of Union he was their God and they were his peculiar people and yet the Lord cast them off a Generation of his wrath from this Marriage Covenant between them and him from this Union there springeth a kind of Faith by which the soule cleaveth unto the Lord in some measure else there could not be this marriage union and this faith is that which you read Psal 106.12,13 They beleeved his words they sang his praise c. So also Exod. 14.31 it is said They beleeved the Lord and his servant Moses This is that faith which men may receive and yet may Apostate from it spoken of Heb. 6.3 to 6. and Luk. 8.13 but all that faith was never grounded upon any free promise of grace but all was built upon Ordinances and Duties and upon no higher ground In the 2 Chron. 13.8 to 12. marvelously strong are the expressions of Abijah when Jeroboam came against him You think to withstand the Kingdome of the Lord in the hand of David c. Where we see what faith he did expresse and hereupon vers 18. The Children of Israel were brought under and the Children of Judah prevailed and yet this Kings heart was not perfect with the Lord his God 2 Kings 15.3 and yet mind you a strong confidence he had that the Lord was with him and that he would be present with his owne Ordinances there was faith built upon fellowship with Ordinances like unto that Faith in the Scripture before alleadged Luke 8.13 Men are affected with the word and beleeve and find comfort and all this springeth from that Relative Communion which they have with the Lord they find refreshing in their way and work and many times take it for the very Seale of the Spirit of God All which may and oftentimes is found in Hypocrites but here 's the difference in a Covenant of workes God giveth himselfe Conditionally in that of grace Absolutely in both he maketh a Covenant in the one of Grace the other of works in which the Voyce of the Lord is If you be true and faithfull to me then I will not remove you and in this Covenant is Faith found whereby they lay hold upon the head of the Sacrifice but not on Christ it is onely built upon such changes as they finde in themselves and will in the end vanish utterly away 3 There is a difference also that springeth from the fruits of these two Covenants iâ—… their continuance for tho in the Covenant of works there be a semblance of Justification and Adoption and a kind of Sanctification yet they endure but for a season and therefore he calleth them Lo-ammi for ye are not my people and Lo-ruhamah for I will no more have mercy though sometimes they were his people and he then had mercy on them They may also have pardon of sin that is forbearance of punishment for a season Psal 78.37,38 Being full of compassion he forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not yet they were such whose heart was not upright with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant This is plainly held forth in the Parable Matth. 18.23 to the end When the Servant had not wherewith to pay his Lord he fell down and worshipped him saying Lord have patience with me and I will pay thee all his Lord was moved with compassion
to ingraffe us into Jesus Christ this is quite contrary to nature Why wherein is it so contrary I answer whereas nature is active for it selfe now it cometh to passe that whereas a soul hath been stirring and busie in his owne strength at length the Spirit of God by the mighty power of his grace being shed abroad into the soule doth burn up root and branch not onely the root of Abraham's Covenant but all the fatnesse of the root of the Wild Olive by which we are fat and lively to all spirituall work in our owne apprehensions so that we work in our owne strength untill the Lord come and cut us quite down and make us to see that there is not the least good thought as of our selves and therefore unlesse the Lord be wonderfully gratious unto us we cannot be saved till it come unto this the soule is not fit for Jesus Christ Thus the Spirit of God may worke powerfully in the hearts of men and burn up their root and branch and this a spirit of burning may doe and yet leave the soule in a damnable condition for ought I know and such as many a soule may be in and yet never come to enjoy saving fellowship with Jesus Christ therefore as this is one arm of God stretched forth for the salvation of his people when he draweth them out of themselves by a Spirit Of Bondage Burning towards Christ So 2 There is a further work of God in drawing us home throughly and effectually to Jesus Christ when he giveth the Spirit of Adoption which reacheth beyond all the former work he hath cut us off from our selves and now we stand in a state quite contrary to nature and if any saving work be wrought in us it is quite contrary to nature if any thing fall upon the heart and soule of a man to bring his will to this passe to lye downe at Gods feet that he knoweth not what to doe and yet whatsoever the Lord calleth him unto he is willing if it were possible to be done he would run through fire and water to doe it but he findeth himselfe unable to doe any thing and now he will tell you that to believe is as impossible for him as to build a world why then bid him wait waite saith he I but I cannot waite and if I seek the Lord I cannot find him and I see others of Gods servants wrought upon gratiously but dead-hearted I nothing will work upon me now in such a case as this the Spirit of God cometh into the heart of a Christian and taketh possession of the soule for Jesus Christ and so draweth the soule to Christ and maketh it there to stay and there to lye down and to be willing to be drawne yet neerer and neerer unto Christ and to be carried an end by him to take all from him to give all the glory to him This Spirit of Adoption doth give a man a Son-like frame to lye prostrate at his Fathers will like unto the Prodigall Son Luke 15.17,18,19 who when he came to himselfe and saw how unable he was to provide for himselfe and how unworthy he was that his Father should doe any thing for him he came and lay downe at the feet of his Father for he is unable and unworthy of any mercy Now this stooping of the heart unto God and yielding unto him to doe with us as seemeth good in his own eyes is such a prostration of the heart wherein the Lord hath taken possession of the soule that now a man is led unto fellowship with Christ that there is None in Heaven but him none in the earth in comparison of him that the soule desireth after and now a man waiteth upon Christ to see what he will doe for him and though he cannot tell you that he waiteth yet he doth waite that he may be helped of God to depend upon him Thus he receiveth all from Christ and giveth all unto him This is the Fathers drawing of the soule which is expounded to be the hearing and learning of the Father of which John speaketh ch 6.45 He that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me which is when the Lord hath drawne the soule out of his naturall corruptions legall reformations pretences of Faith and waiting upon Christ in his owne strength for Faith if it be wanting Then when the soul doth lie at his feet to be disposed of according to the will of God and is in some measure subject unto the Lord though not so much as he could desire and therefore now the soule doth not content or blesse himselfe in any gifts or works of his own but yieldeth himselfe humbly to the Lord to work in him both will and deed of his owne good pleasure and to teach him how to seek and waite and believe and long after Jesus Christ these things he waiteth for Otherwise untill he be thus taught of God the soule will alwayes think that he can doe something and is not able to come out of himself to utter denyall of himselfe but if any man will come unto Christ he must deny himselfe even all his owne gifts and parts and good works whatsoever for a man is never utterly denyed untill there be nothing left of which a man can say This I am able to doe or this is an hopefull thing in me and when it cometh to this passe then will the soule lie down at the will of God and acknowledge that if the Lord would never shew him mercy just and righteous are his judgements Now when the soule and will of a Christian are convinced of these things as well as his judgement that now he waiteth upon Christ as well that he may be able to waite and seek the Lord as he doth for any other good thing from the Lord he waiteth now upon the Lord for a poor spirit and cannot perke up himselfe no more then a bruised Reed can doe Thus when it cometh unto saving work the will and soule of a man is so cast downe that a man cannot tell what to make of himselfe but there he lieth to see what the Lord will doe with him whether he will reach forth the hand of salvation unto him or no. In this case the soule is left utterly void and hath in himself neither root nor branch but seeth how unable he is in himselfe to beleeve or waite nor can he tell whether Jesus Christ be his portion and now doth the Lord take possession and fill the empty soule If you ask me how this spirit cometh into the soule to make it thus to stoop unto Christ You shall find that the Lord useth to convey himselfe unto the soule in some word of Promise of the Gospel that sheweth unto the soule the riches of the grace of God in Jesus Christ something or other is declared of Christ This word being taught in the publick Ministry of the word or brought to remembrance in some spirituall
matters of Religion Let us now in the next place consider at the object of this coercive power of the Magistrate which in the state of the question we call the outward man the things wh ch the civill Magistrate as such doth command or forbid he commandeth or forbiddeth with immediate respect to the outward man The Magistrate as a Magistrate looketh immediately at the externall acts of the body and not at the internall acts of the soule it s his property as a civill Ruler to attend onely the duties and sinnes which appeare in the walke of the outward man Thus Calvin Beza Chemnitius Gerard and other Protestant Divines generally Quest Hereby also other objections receive answer as first Must Magistrates punish any man for being of a corrupt judgement or barely for an errour in his judgement or for having a corrupt heare and sundry lusts in it Answ We say no because whilst he keepeth his opinion to himselfe and whilest his lusts are confined within his breast he is to be left to the sword of the Spirit and to the Word of God thereby onely to be convinced the Magistrates power onely extending to the outward man but if either his mentall errours or hearts lust breake out into open expression and view and become scandalous and spreading then they become breaches of rules by the outward man yea tend to infringe that outward godly peace of which he is to be a preserver and so in both respects he is to deale with the same Object 2. Must a Magistrate command men to believe with all their heart to repent and mortifie their sins and lusts Answ We say no because these appertaine to the inward man and soule of man to attend so farre as they are inward but if we speake of any outward profession of these so farre he may command as to professe the faith by comming to heare the Word and to repent by publick fasting and prayer And if Princes have no power in such externall things then have they no power instrumentally to remove the wrath of God from their Kingdomes by generall humiliations Briefly now of the manner and means of the exercise of this power included in that phrase civilly we say not ecclesiastically as if he might put forth his power in a Church way by Church-weapons or censures but civilly or in a civill way or by civill censures or punishments Whence also other objections are answered as that the weapons of our warfare are not carnall but spirituall and that Paul sheweth a way of redressing all offences 1 Cor. 5.5 2 Tim. 2.25 and Faith comes by hearing and not by whipping when these places rather intend and shew a Church way of healing Church offences and doe no more exclude a Politicall way of healing offences in a Christian Common-wealth than an Economicall way of redressing disorders in the Family so the other place sheweth a spirituall means of drawing men to the Faith so that neither are pertinent to the case of the Civill power acting civilly nor doth this Assertion That the Magistrate is to be a terrour to all evill works applying the same to evill works forbidden in the first Table any more exclude the use of Church-discipline therein then it doth in matters of the second Table if applyed thereunto for the Church may proceed in her way to censure Ecclesiastically one and the same thing whether it be against the first or second Table which the Magistrate doth punish civilly The last thing to be explained in the state of the Question is touching the coercive power of the Magistrate namely Godly peace Now by Godly peace to which the Magistrate immediately looketh we mean a peaceable living as in all honesty so in godlines as the Apostle hath it 1 Tim. 2.1,2 So far as any matters of Religion coming under the Magistrates cognizance as a publick Officer in the Common-wealth doe either further or hinder such a peace of a Christian Common-wealth so far is he to put forth his coercive power accordingly Hereby also with reference to things before explained other Objections may receive answer as 1 Will you have Magistrates put forth their coercive power to the full in Lawes with Sanctions of punishments as that men shall pray in their Families so long or so oft or else suffer That a Minister in preaching if he exceed a just houre he must suffer and the like we say if either the matters be meerly circumstantiall or if they be matters of lesse moment and such as doe not of themselves any way infringe publick peace or that they are not pertinatiously tumultuously maintained to the disturbance of publick peace in all such like cases wherein the Civill Magistrate's end is not intrenched upon he may not exercise the coercive power of his Authority with sanction or execution of punishments 2 Will not this Thesis arme and stir up the Civill power in Old England against godly Orthodox ones of the Congregationall way or exasperate Civill power in New England against godly moderate and Orthodox Presbyterians if any such should desire their liberty here we conceive no except the civill disturbance of the more rigidly unpeaceably and corruptly minded be very great yet betwixt men godly and moderately minded on both sides the difference upon true and due search is found so small by judicious Orthodox godly and moderate Divines as that they may both stand together in peace and love if liberty should be desired by either sort here or there so exercising their liberty as the publick peace be not infringed The state of the Question in the explication thereof will rather quench then kindle any such coales against either If indeed persons professing either the Congregationall or Presbyteriall way will shelter or close either with other Blasphemous Hereticall or Schismaticall Tenents which tend to break the peace of the Congregationall way there where a Presbyteriall way is authorized to be the generall way of the Churches or the Presbyteriall way here where the Congregationall way is authorized to be the generall way of the Churches there they may be strained by the power of the Civil Magistrate as disturbers and breakers of godly peace the conservation whereof is the Civil Magistrates end and work unto which he is to attend Having thus cleared the state of the Question we shall now come to some Arguments from Scripture which confirme the Affirmative part of the question so stated and the Arguments are taken some from the old some from the New Testament Of the former sort there are three From the Old Testament Argum 1 1 In that it is evident that Rulers of old and those Rulers in the Common-wealth of Israel they are commended in Scripture for the exercise of such power in the matters of the first Table and therefore it is according to the mind of God that now civil Rulers do the like Abraham who was not an ordinary master of a family but a Prince among them Gen. 23.6 He
behind him doe and I trust ever will speak to the Saints to the Churches here below both in the present and also future Generations yet unborn Neither doth the other viz. the third that concerning the Power of Magistrates in matters of the first Table seem to claim any lower descent being indeed a Result of a meeting of divers reverend and godly Elders of severall Churches in the Masaâ—…usets Plantation in New-England An. 1646. where both the head and heart of the forenamed reverend and precious man was also present amongst those approved workmen who need not to be ashamed And as for the Matter which they do treat of 't is the establishment of Peace both Spirituall viz. of a beleeving soul with the Lord in the Covenant of Grace as in the first Treatise and Ecclesiasticall viz. between the Brethren and Churches of the Presbyterian and Congregationall way as in the second and also Politicall viz. between Magistrates and people in point of power and Jurisdiction about matters belonging to the first Table as in the third Treatise How well these things are here spoken unto I shall willingly leave to the godly and learned Readers to judge I shall only desire to give a brief account of the publishing of them to the world that the Reader may undoubtedly assure himself that these are neither spurious Copies nor surreptitiously put forth The Treatise of the New Covenant having been taken from the Authors mouth in Preaching was afterward presented unto him with desire of his perusal and emendation of it which being done and indeed the interlinings of his owne hand doe plainly testifie his correcting of it he delivered back not long before his death into the hands of a Gentleman one of the Church in Boston there who coming over hither and being about to return left it with me to take order for the Printing of it That of the Queries I had from the Reverend Author himself my most Honoured friend in a letter from him with liberty if it might be thought meet of publishing of it At my coming over from that Country which was about a year before his death he delivered unto me the same for substance but in another Form viz. in 12 Propositions and therefore did then expresse his unwillingness to yield to the impression of them being moved thereunto by a Reverend Elder then present with us by reason as he said they were set down by way of Propositions but afterward the Lord having directed him to mould them in to another model turning the twelve Propositions into eleven Queries he was pleased to send them over unto me as here they are presented He was a man of peace of a very sweet spirit and had a speciall faculty of composing differences in the judgements of Brethren and thus much I shall crave liberty to testifie of him that besides the multiplicity of occasions which was constantly upon him he was not without care about the Peace and welfare of the Churches abroad and notwithstanding his so vast a distance in body from the Churches and Saints in his Native Countrey yet he had great thoughts of heart for the Division of his Brethren here being seriously studious how to compose and heale their breaches He hath sometimes said unto me being privately together Brother I perceive there is a great gravamen which the one party is much offended at with the other I pray let us study how we may ease and remove it From that solicitous care it was that he drew up these 11 Queries unto which may it be without offence I shall be bold to add one more to make up the number even and round the which I doe presume that our Reverend and honoured friend would not have been averse unto had he been on earth to have been consulted withall The third and last Treatise being The Result of a Synod at Cambridge as 't is stiled by the Copy come to my hands was lately sent over unto me from a Reverend Friend one that was present at that Assembly desiring mee earnestly intimating also that 't was not his owne desire only to procure the Printing of it as conceiving it might prove very usefull for the present season Now these three little Treatises being in mine hand through providence together and each of them somewhat too small to put forth severally I was the more willing especially apprehending them not to be altogether heterogeniall to joyne in one small Volume and as they came from one and the same place so to send them forth as Companions together and oh that the presence and blessing of the Spirit of Christ may go along with them making them usefull and profitable unto the Readers or Hearers of them THO ALLEN BOOKS Sould by John Allen at the Rising Sun in Pauls Church-yard NOva Testament Beza fol. Doctor Holdsworths Works compleat 4o. Mr. Caryl's fifth Vollume on Job 4o. Mr. Greenhil's second Voll on Ezekiel 4o. Gospel-Liberty by Mr. Cradock 4o. Mr. Lockiers Works 4o. Andrew's Catechisticall Doctrine 8o. Simpson of Justification 8o. Ainsworth's Communion 8o. Ainsworth's Arrow against Idols 8o. Welch Testament 8o. The Saints Desire by Samuel Richardson 8o. Gaule of Witches 8o. The Contents of the Treatise concerning the Covenant Doct. THat God in the Covenant gave himselfe to be a God unto Abraham and his seed and received Abraham and his Seed to be his people and took Christ to be the Mediatour and Surety of this Covenant between both Page 4. In which are these 3 things 1 That God gave himselfe to Abraham to be a God to him and his Seed 5. 7. Here is considered 1 What 't is for God to give himselfe to Abraham 7. Viz. 1 The whole nature of God in his Persons and Attributes 8. 2 All the Ordinances Creatures and works of God 10. 2 The Order of Gods giving in the Covenant 14. Viz. 1 God doth first give and not the Creature ibid. 2 God also is the first thing that is given ibid. 3 The Manner of giving viz. freely and for ever 15. Obj. But the Lord required that he should give himselfe back again Answered 16. Obj. The Lord required him to circumcise his Seed answered 17. 2 How the Lord doth take Abraham and his Seed to be his people 5. 19. By preparing them by a spirit of Bondage 20. Burning 21. By taking possession of them by his spirit 24. Which spirit doth Convince the soule of unbeliefe 25. Work Faith and unites to Christ by some Promise of grace 26. Qu. Whether may not true Faith be built on a Conditionall Promise answered 29. see 56. From Union followeth Communion with Christ in all spirituall Blessings 31. Viz. Relative as Adoption ibid. Iustification ibid. Positive wrought in us as Sanctification 34. Glorification 35. 3 How the Lord did constitute Jesus Christ to be the Mediatour of the Coven 7. 36. By receiving him the Son of the Virgin Mary to be one person with the second in the Trinity ibid. By
exposit r. proposit 133 10 after 9 10. make 150 10 in the marg for Quest 3. r. Quest 8. 197 11 for a as r. as a. In the second Treatis Page Line  8 18 for as r. an 14 23 for quickly r. quietly 19 8 r. shall not he be bound 20 6 after abide make this point In the third Treatise Page Line  6  last line but one make a period after allow 10 27 r. finde 14  last line but one for at r. of 20 16 for strained r. restrained 22 26 for and r. an 32 11 for speake r. seeke 38 8 r. life making wounds and marks 52 2 after to make a comma  3 4 5 blot out all in the parenthesis 55 3 for aris'd r. ariv'd 59 24 for for acts r. of acts 63 12 for non coactive r. not coactive The NEW COVENANT OR A Treatise unfolding the order and manner of the giving and receiving of the Covenant of Grace to the Elect. As also Shewing the difference between the Legallist and the true Christian Being the substance of sundry Sermons Preached by Mr COTTON At Boston in New-England some years since and corrected by his owne hand not long before his death LONDON Printed by M. S. for Francis Eglesfield John Allen at the Marigold and Rising Sun in St. Pauls Church-yard 1654. The NEW COVENANT OR A Treatise unfolding the order and manner of the giving and receiving of the Covenant of Grace to the ELECT ACTS 7.8 And he gave him the Covenant of Circumcision THis blessed Servant of God Steven being called to account concerning what he had sayd touching Jesus Christ his destroying the Temple it is the scope of his whole discourse throout this Chapter to justifie the doctrine that he had taught that though Jesus of Nazareth should destroy that place yet in so teaching he taught not blasphemy And this he doth in way of an holy History or Narration make evident in the first place from the sweet communion which their Fathers had with God before either Temple or Tabernacle was built and if so then he would not have them look at it as unsafe for them or as an utter ruine to Religion if that both the Temple and the Ordinances of the Temple were destroyed in themselves and fulfilled in him And first the passages of Abrahams communion with God Steven doth relate and maintaine before any of Moses his Customes were knowne God did effectually call him which call he did also obey ver 2 3 4. though as yet he knew no Circumcision God giveth him a tryal of his faith wherein he found Abraham faithfull ver 5 6 7. God promised to give him the Land of Canaan for a possession but he gave him not a foots breadth He promised to give it unto his seed when as yet he had no Child and when God gave him seed yet they should sojourn in a strange Land and be in bondage 400 years God gave him the Covenant of Circumcision in the words of the Text and Abraham in the strength of the blessing of God begate Isaac and Circumcised him according to Gods direction and all this before Moses gave any Ordinances unto them to keep and before either Temple or Tabernacle was built From hence we have heard That the soule may have very spirituall and gracious communion with God before it partake in Church-fellowship or in any Seale thereof for Abrahams faith was throughly tryed before he had the Seale of Church-Covenant given him We heard also this propounded which is the words of the Text that God gave unto Abraham the Covenant of Circumcision which Doctrine doth imply in it four principall parts all of them serving to clear Stevens meaning and to prove his scope 1 The Author and manner of dispensing it God gave so it was by gift 2 The Articles of it and they are to be inquired into 3 The Confederates and they are expressed God on the one side and Abraham and his seed on the other side 4 The Seale of it Circumcision which was the Seale of Church-Covenant These four parts doe yeeld unto us so many Notes The first of them was formerly spoken unto in the last point formerly handled Now for the second and third parts to wit the Articles of the Covenant and the Confederates we comprehend them both in this one Note Doctr. That in the Covenant which God made with Abraham he gave himselfe to be a God to Abraham and to his seed and received Abraham and his seed to be a people unto himselfe and the chiefest of this seed the Lord Jesus Christ he took to be the Mediator or Surety of this Covenant between them both This is the sum of the Articles and of the Confederates What the Articles be is not here mentioned but Gen. 17.7 they be for to speak of Circumcision before a Covenant it is but a seale to a blank where the Lord expresseth himselfe thus saying I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their Generations for an everlasting Covenant to be a God unto thee and unto thy seed after thee As for other parts of the Covenant they were more properly unto Abraham himselfe as to be exceeding fruitfull to be the father of many Nations those things were more peculiarly proper unto Abraham though they have a morall and universall use and force in all the faithfull whom the Lord doth make fruitfull and giveth them a naile in his Tabernacle In the Covenant these three things are implyed 1 God gave himselfe to be a God unto Abraham and to his seed This is such an Argument as the strength and wisdome of men and Angels cannot unfold It is a Catechisme point and by way of Catechisme to be opened as the Lord hath revealed it I mean plainly and familiarly 2 God did receive Abraham and his seed to be his people this is implied and necessarily inferred by the Rule of Relatives for if God doe give himselfe to be a God unto Abraham and to his seed and doth not expresly prerequire it of Abraham and of his seed that they should give up themselves to be his people then it must of necessity follow that the Lord will undertake to receive them to be a people unto himselfe and prevent them in that grace and so he will performe both his owne part of the Covenant and Abrahams part also according to what we read Deut. 7.6,7,8 when as they were in a Land of Idols and the Lord lifted up his hand to have destroyed them there yet he remembred and wrought for his own Name sake so that though they were far off yet the Lord to make good his Covenant brought them out of Aegypt and so from one Covenant to another by all which things it doth appear that the Lord will keep our part of the Covenant also and this is necessarily implyed in that he promiseth to be a God unto Abraham and to his seed and there is no
not therefore upon every leaning of your soule upon conditionall promises for so you may build upon a Covenant made upon a worke and so you and your Covenant may faile together But when you read how the Lord hath made such promises to such and such qualifications then consider that those things are indeed requisite to be found in you but who is there in heaven or earth that can worke them in you there is none but Jesus Christ and unlesse you have him to be in you you cannot have any of these things wrought in you But will a poore soule say I am not able to reach the Lord Jesus Christ therefore all the promises doe fall heavie upon a man and he seeth that they are too burthensome and too weighty for him he doth not say here is the qualification and here is the blessing promised to it and therefore I will take it to my selfe but one that is taught of God doth forthwith goe and pray unto God that he will set him in the way of those blessings and that so he will make him partaker of them he prayeth that God will give him his Sonne and that he will adorne him with his grace as a bride of Jesus Christ Thus while the soule doth looke towards Jesus Christ and grace in him the Lord doth secretly transforme him into the image of Christ by working such qualifications in him and then beareth witnesse to that sanctification which is wrought in his heart thereby enlarging his soule with strong consolation in Jesus Christ and in the same way it is that the Lord doth strengthen the faith of his people to believe that all those things which God hath promised are accomplished in Jesus Christ and the Law fullfilled in me so farre as Christ is in me and therefore I come unto God in prayer to make good those promises unto me in a right way which would have been preposterously applyed before Christ was given And this may serve for Answer to the 5th Question Quest 6. Wee come now unto a sixt Question If the Lord doe give himselfe first in the Covenant of his grace this may then be a doubt and a question in a Christian soule If God give himselfe before any blessing before any promise in order of nature though he giveth himselfe alwayes in a promise if wee cannot claime any blessing from God at the first in any conditionall promise therefore not by any condition in our selves but as we received all things from God so wee claime all things from him in Jesus Christ and so doe first seeke for him and for all things in him If thus to what use then serveth the Law of God which requireth such and such conditions in us doe we not abrogate the Law make it of none effect and roote it out from having any power over Christians And truly some under pretence of the Covenant of grace have thought it altogether bootlesse to bind Christians unto the Law of God and to looke at it as any part of the direction of their Course Now because this is an imputation usually reflected upon the Covenant of Grace let us Confider therefore and enquire to what use serveth the Law of God if God give himselfe first unto his people in the Covenant of his grace Answ Though the Lord giveth himselfe freely to the soule and his Sonne and all the blessings of the Covenant of grace without respect unto any worke of the Law yet the Law is of speciall and notable use unto all the sonnes of men both unto them that are not yet brought home unto God by converting grace and also to those that are regenerate in Jesus Christ The Apostle Paul did observe that the question would arise upon the doctrine of the Covenant of grace Gal. 3.16,17,18 For if the blessing of Abraham came upon the people of God by Jesus Christ to what end then serveth the Law which came 430 yeares after It cannot disanull grace to make the promise of God of none effect to what end then serveth it Some say it is of no use others say that it is of such use that they had rather renounce the Covenant of grace than it but the Answer is it is of especiall use both unto spirituall and carnall men First unto carnall men and they are of two sorts some belong unto the election of grace though they be not yet called others are not written in the Lambs booke of life but will in the end finally perish and the Law is yet of use unto both sorts of them For the Elect it is of use unto them to aggravate their sin and to multiply it unto them as it were that is to say to aggravate the apprehension of the hainousnesse of sin upon their Consciences and to set home the burthen of sin unto their soules thereby to drive them to feele their great need of the Lord Jesus Christ whom otherwise they should for ever have despised Thus the Apostle answereth in the place aforenamed The Law was added because of transgressions that they might cleerely appeare and be aggravated thereby that a man might plainly discerne how he hath made himselfe liable to the wrath of God by so manifold breaches of so many Commandments in one kinde or other the Law giveth cleere knowledge of sinne and so much the more doth it set on the weight of it upon the Conscience working feare in the heart Rom. 8.15 And hence it is that the Apostle telleth us Gal. 3.24 The Law was our Schoole-Master to Christ As a Schoole-Master driveth his Scholler through feare unto this or that duty either to doe it himselfe or if he cannot to get others to doe it for him so the Law of God driveth the soule through feare unto Jesus Christ not that it doth reveale Christ a Saviour of free-grace but the soule being once brought downe under sense of sin by the terrours of the Law will readily willingly hearken unto the newes of Christ a Saviour for being once made sensible of his owne inability to redeeme himselfe and unworthines to be redeemed from the wrath of God now is the soule fitted to heare the voyce of the Gospell now is the newes of Christ beautifull and glad tidings And of this use is the Law unto the Elect of God before they come under the Covenant of the grace of God 2. But of what use is the Law unto other men First the Disobedience of it is of use Secondly the Obedience of it 1. The Disobedience for if men had not knowne sin it had been some pretence though they had committed sin but when men have the knowledge of the Law and yet commit sin willingly now they have no cloake for their sin Rom. 1.21 compared with 32. where the Apostle speaketh of the great sin of the Gentiles and much more of the Jewes Who though they knew God and the judgement of God and that they which commit such wickednes are worthy of death yet
not onely doe the same but have pleasure in them that doe them When a man shall not onely doe such wickednes but blesse himselfe in it this aggravateth a mans condemnation if men will not come unto Jesus Christ that they might have life Joh. 5.40 what saith our Saviour in such a Case see vers 45. Moses will judge all those that please themselves in wickednes and will not turne to the Lord Jesus Christ Thus there is use of the Law unto disobedient persons their disobedience will leave them without excuse when they sin against their consciences against the meanes which the Lord hath administred unto them for though the Lord never gave them such grace as did accompany salvation yet such Illumination he did give them that they needed not to have broken his Law so many wayes with such wicked hands as they have done therefore when they have been inlarged to performe many duties might avoyd much sin yet will sin against their consciences and tread under foot those meanes of grace that were committed unto them It is then most righteous with God that they should be condemned 2. Of what use is the Obedience of the Law unto such whom Gods soule takes no pleasure in Truly it is of sad and dreadfull use unto them for it serveth to harden them in their sinnes though that be but an accidentall use thereof their sinnes are thereby made out of measure sinfull Rom 7.13 They harden their hearts marvellously 1. By their Obedience to the Law 2. By the Comfort they finde in that Obedience For the first of these the Apostle Paul Acts 23.1 had kept so good a Conscience that he knew not any sin against the Law that he had lived in but though he was unrebukeable he did count it all losse afterward Phil. 3.7,8 Those things that before he thought had heen his gaine now he counteth them but dung that he may winne Christ when a man attaineth unto outward conformity to the Law he is then indeed ready to justifie himselfe and to thinke that it is indeed good for poore sinfull men to looke for salvation by Jesus Christ but for himselfe he hopeth in his selfe-devotion and that he is able to save himselfe these are such as justifie themselves before men to whom our Saviour speaketh Luke 16.15 And of whom he saith that Publicans and harlots shall goe into the kingdome of heaven before them Mat. 21.31,32 For many times you shall have the most deboist and prophane more humbled and readier to hearken to the voyce of Christ and sooner convinced of the necessity of the Covenant of grace than those that are morally righteous by the law Rom. 9.30,31,32 Chap. 10.21 Thus the Law becometh a snare unto them and that which is of singular and wholsome use unto the children of God is made death unto them And as their obedience to the Law is thus a snare unto them So secondly the delight and comfort which they take in their obedience is a greater snare than the other The stony and thorny soile did heare the word with joy and so those hypocrites Isai 58. did delight to approach unto God but what followed upon the delight which they tooke in God and in holy duties it made them ready to expostulate with God why he did not answer them according to their works the delight which they found did so fill their hearts with Assurance of the grace of God that they looked at their duties as so many tokens of the love of God unto their soules and then when men come to finde more comfort in their obedience than in the grace of God in Jesus Christ it maketh them ready to expostulate with God touching the worth of their owne righteousnes Isa 57.10 Thou hast found the life of thine hand therefore thou wast not grieved So long as a man findeth life and comfort in his owne performances what need can he see to be grieved for the want of Jesus Christ or at the best if he doe grieve and finde his heart comforted in grieving and delighting in the Course of humiliation he then thinketh he hath no need of being further solicitous about his spirituall estate Thus we see that the Law of God is of marvellous use in the dayes of the Gospell of great use unto those that belong unto God to breake their hearts for sinne and to drive them to Jesus Christ and for others the disobedience of the Law leaves them without excuse that so disobey it Againe the obedience of it and comfort in that obedience doth harden the hearts of others from Christ 2. But what say you then unto men that are under a Covenant of grace and brought unto fellowship with Christ therein of what use is the Law of God unto such is it utterly antiquated or is there any more to be done about it Answ The Apostle answereth this question when he saith I am not without the Law to God but under the Law to Christ 1 Cor. 9.21 So that mind you the Law is of use unto the Apostle Paul but how As the Law cometh under Christ so Paul cometh under the Law this is the summe of the Answer but that would be further explained What meaneth he when he sayth I am under the Law to Christ In some sense a Christian is freed from the Law in some sense he is under the Law so farre as the Law is any way besides or out of Christ so farre the Apostle is without the Law so farre as the Law is under Christ so farre he is under the Law keepe close to these two principles and you shall safely avoyd rockes on every hand thus by the use of the Law shall you not goe aside to a Covenant of works nor by attendance unto grace shall you neglect the Law How farre is the Law under Christ When it hath brought the soule neerer unto Christ and in a remote manner prepared him the Law is in Christ and you subject to it in him 1. As the Law is given by Christ 2. As in Christ helpe is given to performe it First as the Law is given by Christ as 1 Thes 4.2,3 and many other Commandments he gave them all which are legall Commandments and yet the Apostle gave them by the Lord Jesus So Mat. 5. to the end of the Chapter Our Saviour would not have us thinke that he came to destroy the Law or the Prophets but to fullfill them and to that end he doth there expound the spirituall true meaning of the Law that whereas the Pharisees held forth the outward letter of the Law to be observed onely as thinking that unlesse a man did commit the act of murther he was not guilty of the breach of the sixt Commandment and if he committed not the act of Adultery he transgressed not the seventh Commandment and so of the rest Our Saviour Christ expoundeth the Law more spiritually shewing that Anger against a mans brother is a breach
to life and glory but given his Sonne to redeeme us and holy Spirit to sanctifie us Ezek. 36.27 What need is there then of Sanctification for if the holy Ghost will dwell in us he can take our wits and understandings and understand all our meditations for us without any such actuall concurrence of ours as might be requisite for that end if the Lord give himselfe to be my righteousnes and holines what need I then these gifts of holines so that this in summe is the Question If the Lord will give unto us himselfe what need we these gifts to worke any thing which God is much more able to performe than we can be this springeth naturally from the doctrine Though the Lord give us himselfe and his holy Spirit to dwell in us yet is it needfull that we should be endued with all the gifts of the Spirit of grace that do accompany salvation You will say what need is there then that the holy Ghost should dwell in us or will not these carry an end our soules unto immortality Truly we have need that the Lord should give us his holy Spirit to dwell in us notwithstanding all the gifts of his grace though they indeed are necessary conditions to be found in the soules of all Gods servants Heb. 12.14 Follow peace with holines without which no man shall see the Lord as if he made it not onely of absolute necessity unto salvation in another world but for a comfortable condition in this world follow peace and holines as if they were ready to fly away from a man and indeed the Originall word doth imply no lesse for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie the pursuit of something that fleeth from a man as peace will many times fly from one a man shall have much adoe to attaine unto it Psal 120.6,7 it is not easily attained unto therefore should not be suffered to depart but held fast when it is enjoyed And so for holines the Apostle would have us make an holy kinde of pursuite after it as if it were still withdrawing it selfe from us which cometh through the corruptions of our hearts for wee are soone weary of holy duties as prayer or conference or the like if holines be in any thing it soone groweth wearisome to flesh and bloud but though our weake and feeble nature will be withdrawing us from holines yet the Lord would have us to follow it and pursue it and so shall a man be withdrawn from the world and from the temptations and bad examples thereof doe not say what shall we be wiser than our fathers is not moderation best in all things but consider what the Apostle saith follow still after it even unto perfection and his words doe intimate the Reason of it Without which no man shall see the Lord for what is holines in its owne nature it is that which giveth God his due as righteousnesse giveth man his due this is a maine ground why we are so slow in works of holines for were they of another nature and did they serve our turnes more as we thinke we should not then account them tedious if a man were to sit and tell money all day long this is for my selfe saith a man and for my profit and if it were for another we should not thinke the time long it may be about that work neither but mind you when it cometh to any thing which doth concerne the Lord then it s so sarre above a mans reach whatsoever we have to doe in the things of God that we should soone be weary of reaching forth our hands all the day long unto the Lord and to be constantly for God from God and with God in all our actions our base spirits are soone ready to be withdrawing from the Lord therefore the Apostle biddeth us Follow after peace and holines without which c. so that great is the necessity of holines and worthy to be followed after for though a mans owne heart and the world and men and Satan withdraw us from it yet follow after it for without it no man shall see God there is a kinde of holines which some men have attained unto many a faire day agoe but t is a thousand to one whether it be the holines that doth accompany salvation for that holines is not easily attained unto but the other will easily cleave close unto a man Now if you shall aske me Quest Wherefore the Lord will have us pursue after holines and what needeth it if the Spirit of holines dwell in me by an Everlasting Covenant if it did withdraw from us as it did from Adam it was another matter but though it may be quenched in us yet it abideth for ever what need then of gifts of holinesse Answ That one word may be sufficient which we finde 2 Tim. 2. If any man purge himselfe from these evills he shall be c. This sheweth us why gifts of holines are requifite to be in Gods people namely that they might become meet instruments in the hand of God and fitted unto every good word and worke therefore it is that the Lord will have us to be filled with all the gifts of righteousnes and fruits of his Spirit that we might be the more fit Temples for the holy Ghost to dwell in and this is the principall Reason of the point Quest If then there be such gifts of holines what need the holy Ghost dwell in us is it not enough that he should shed abroad these things into our hearts cannot the Lord carry an end the worke of our salvation by these gifts Answ There is need that the holy Ghost should dwell in us notwithstanding 1. To keepe these gifts in us 2. To Act them in us 3. To witnesse unto our soules by these for our comfort and the good one of another Some Scriptures for all these 1. That there is need of the holy Ghost that he should keepe these in us 2 Tim. 1.14 there is a worthy thing committed unto us how shall wee keepe it not by our owne wit or wisdome carefull watchfullnes and faithfullnes though such things ought not to be wanting but the charge is Keepe those things by the holy Ghost which dwelleth in us we stand in need of gifts to be fit instruments in the hand of God we stand in need of the Spirit of God to maintaine that which God giveth us though Adams gifts were in perfection yet not having the holy Ghost to keepe them for him they all fly from him as soone as ever he had tasted of the forbidden fruit and left him naked and desperate therefore in the Covenant of grace the Lord giveth the holy Ghost to keepe strong possession in his servants against the strong man armed 2. It s the holy Ghost that Acteth the gifts given to us and enableth them in us for the holy Ghost who keepeth possession doth derive continued strength into our faith which putteth life into all
There are two things in the root 1. The first is the Roote of Abrahams Covenant which this people much trusted upon and that is it of which John Baptist speaketh Now the axe is layd to the roote of the Tree c. and this he spake Mat. 3.9 after he had said Thinke not to say within your your selves Wee have Abraham to our father vers 8. So that all the confidence that they had in Abrahams Covenant and Temple and Tabernacle and such things is burnt up and so they have no roote left them to stand upon And this is one thing intended by the Roote But 2. Secondly there is something more in it for with this Spirit of burning the Lord by the power of this Spirit doth cut us off from any power of our owne naturall gifts and parts and spirituall gifts also whereby we thought to lay hold on Jesus Christ and we are cut off hereby from all the confidences that we have in our owne sufficiency when once the Lord intendeth to bring a soule unto himselfe for there is an usuall preâ—idence that we have in our owne state though the Lord have cut us off from hope in the righteousnesse of our parents and from boasting of his Ordinances yet we thinke there is some power still left us and therefore we hope and will seeke in our owne strength that the Lord may reveale himselfe to us in mercy and peace but when the Lord cometh neerer unto us he will shew us how unable we are to take up the least good resolution we shall finde our selves like bruised reeds unable to hold up our heads for Christ came to seeke and to save that which was lost so that Christ will not declare himselfe to seeke us untill we be lost and therefore he saith Math. 16.24 If any man will come after me let him deny himselfe and follow me And according hereunto it is that those converts Acts 2.37 doe cry out when they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles Men and brethren what shall wee doe Hence it is also that the poore soules that came unto Christ Math. 12.20 were like bruised reeds that could not hold up their heads for the Lord in this case bruiseth them layeth them low that they see no more hope of mercy nor likelihood that God should shew them any hope Thus doth the Lord burne up the Root of Abrahams Covenant wherein men trust and the Roote of all our selfe-sufficiency that now wee find our selves dryed up our strength consumed that now we are not able to thinke as of our selves a good thought And againe the Lord by this spirit of burning doth burne up all our branches also how faire and greene soever they have been All our fastings and humiliations and almsdeeds and prayers such things as the Pharisees much boasted in Math. 6.1,2,3 c. but these things are all burnt up The fruit of bondage worketh unto feare and now all the hope is that a man setteth upon reformation but if the Lord love a mans soule he will not let him stay there but goeth further with him and sheweth him that his prayers and fastings are all empty and fall short of the life and power of Jesus Christ but yet the soule is not quite out of hope though the Law cannot save me if it cannot I must get me unto Jesus Christ and lay hold upon him for salvation as if all were to be had by faith in Jesus Christ if once we can lay hold upon him and nothing else were required but faith in Christ and thereby my laying hold upon him I see plainly saith a man in this case that there is no hope in me as hath been rightly observed and therefore I le trust upon Jesus Christ and give up my selfe to him but now if the Lord love thy soule he will not suffer thee there to rest he will not leave thee so He will presse thee further How comest thou by faith in Christ Why thou tookest it up of thine owne accord thou thoughtest all thy gifts aâ—d duties were in vaine and therefore now thou wilt believe in Jesus Christ Is it so easie a matter Can any man come unto Christ except the Father draw him And is thy faith any more than a resolution of thine owne when thou wast convinced of the emptinesse of thine owne gifts and abilities When this spirit of burning hath blasted this thy faith also and that by the cleere evidence of the Gospel put upon it Now saith the soule I see that I am not in Christ though I said that I would trust in Christ yet I see it is not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of heaven Now I see it is not my faith such a Faith as mine is that will reach Jesus Christ it is not a faith of my own undertaking that will serve the turne I see now Christ alone must worke this great worke in me and Christ in the way of his owne Ordinances therefore I must looke for it in his word and in the fellowship of the Sacraments therefore I will look up unto the Lord in all these and waite for him and seek him therein And I hope I can seeke and waite in that way though I can do nothing else and so the poore soule maketh account that in time he shall finde Christ in the Ordinances and so hammereth out a faith from thence and therein blesseth himselfe Now minde you the Spirit of God when the Lord God the Father will draw home the soule throughly to Jesus Christ will burne up all thy confidence for if thy soule be not utterly lost so long as it hath any roote or power in it selfe it is not come to an utter selfe-deniall though I cannot worke I will believe and if I cannot believe I can waite that I may believe and so here is still the old roote of Adam left alive in us whereby men seeke to establish their owne righteousnesse This old roote putteth forth it selfe and will not suffer the soule to be wholly from Christ and for Christ alone and all because there is a sprigge of Adam left in the soule whence it is that the soule is marvellously apt to have hope and confidence more or lesse from some vertue or power in himselfe therefore it s no small matter to be cut off from Adam that 's contrary to nature As saith the Apostle Rom. 11.24 this is a marvellous strong work when the Spirit of God comes to act things contrary to nature for nature is fully possessed that what God commandeth I am able to doe it nature will not be perswaded to the contrary If I heare God command any thing I will doe it saith a carnall heart and if I cannot do it I will believe and if I cannot believe I will waite and I can waite that I may believe this is still but nature Now when the Lord cometh indeed
duty as Prayer or Conference or the like for I will not limit the Holy One of Israel yet usually it is done in the Ministry of the Gospel and though the Lord doth not limit himselfe yet he doth limit us to attend upon the means which he usually worketh by but whatsoever the way be this is the manner of Gods working he doth universally come into the soul in some word or other of his grace as for instance that in 2 Cor. 5.19 or that in 1 Tim. 1.15 In some such word of his grace he cometh and putteth life into the soule and maketh it somwhat quies and causeth it to see that there is hope in Israel and the Lord is able and there is riches enough in Christ to save me By such kind of work it is that the Lord bringeth the soules of his servants effectually to Christ and now hath God the Father given us unto him and untill now thou never camest unto him savingly This is the second Act whereby God the Father giveth himselfe unto the soule The third act or work followeth both these as soone as ever the Lord hath given this selfe-denying spirit unto the soule and hath made it like unto a bruised Reed or like a Traveller that is out of his way and willing to take any man by the hand that will lead him into his way againe when the soule is in such a frame the Lord cometh with a third act of Reconcilement The first work was of Conviction the second of Prostration the third of Reconciliation This is the third work of the Father though there is in all these works a concurrence of the whole Trinity yet some are more proper unto each Person as our Catechismes teach us and we are not wont to scruple such expressions in them God the Father created us and we cannot expound it but as God the Father created us at the first so he doth again create you or else if we acknowledg it in the one and not in the other we do wrong unto God even to the Father Well he is then reconciled unto us having given unto us the Spirit of his Son now he doth pronounce us reconciled unto him this is the work which is spoken of Rom. 5.10 and this is the work of God the Father according to that was before alledged 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world c. Now there are two acts of God as fruits that follow hereupon and both of them done at once upon the soule 1 The first is Adoption whereby he maketh us his Children as Gal. 4.4,5,6 John 1.12 So that now we are the Brethren of Christ and the Sons of the Eternall God Adoption is properly the work of the Father but Christ being the naturall Son of God we must be knit unto him before we can be accounted Sons 2 The second is Justification Rom. 8.33,34 This is the Fathers work and it is principally attributed unto him to forgive our iniquities and to make reconciliation in Christ Jesus And look as it is in our naturall Being so soon as ever we have received naturall life from Adam we become the Sons of Adam and his sin is imputed unto us so it is in the new birth as soon as ever the life of Christ is shed abroad into our hearts so soon are we Heires of Christ and the righteousness of the second Adam is imputed unto us now to our Justification as the sin of Adam before was to our Condemnation Vse 1. The Doctrine it selfe is but an Use but I desire that we may all of us apply it unto our selves It will be a help to us for our Instruction to Teach us how we came to saving fellowship with God in Jesus Christ and wherein lieth our spirituall union with Christ and how it is wrought and obtained and this is necessary for as it hath been observed by others so we may now gather it from what we have heard that there be 4 sorts of men that fall short of this union with Christ 1 You have some that blesse themselves in their naturall estate it may be they are rich and honourable among men well they blesse themselves in that estate and will never goe any further 2 There is another sort that are convinced of the danger of their naturall estate they dare not rest there and hereupon they fall upon Reformations and so to duties of Humiliation and such like wherein they find as they conceive such a blessed change and so much comfort as doth satisfie them And indeed God doth comfort men in their Reformations for God will have no man lose by him Mat. 6.2,5 Hypocrices have their reward for their Aime and for their Prayers Herod when he heard John reformed many things and heard him gladly Mark 6.20 Here was a great change and doubtlesse much comfort in that gladnesse yet these men never had the work of God the Father to burn up all that they had received by any strength of their owne 3. A third sort goe a step beyond these they have been convinced that they went forth â—o Reformation in their owne strength they plainly see it and discerne it and therefore they know that it is impossible to be saved by the righteousnesse of the Law and that it is not of works neither of one kind nor of another they are convinced that Faith onely must doe the deed and upon this ground they will take up Faith to believe in Christ for salvation and that Faith which formerly they have pitched upon their good duties they will now pitch upon Christ but still it is the same Faith for the root is not yet burnt up the old corruption still remaineth in them and so here is your old faith still translated from one object to another it was fastned before upon your duties and reformations and now upon Christ though by creature-strength and now a man is ready to plead and say If God had not loved me he would never have set me upon such reformations nor have enlarged me with such comforts if he had not been well pleased with me in Jesus Christ And though I have been sometimes burnt up touching my hope in reformation yet I have translated my Faith to Jesus Christ but how came you to doe that Why I saw my hopes in my owne reformation would not serve my turne and therefore I believed in Jesus Christ and now shall nothing draw me from him nor pull me from my confidence for I have built upon some word of God and some Promise of his made unto such reformation as I have set upon and is not this true Faith in Jesus Christ This is far from true Faith it is no other but a strong fallacy whereby the Devil doth cheat men and in truth this Faith is but a Faith of a mans owne making that I may so speak it is no more than a spirit of Burning at the best that hath burnt up his confidence in
his owne works and taught him to resolve in his judgment to believe on Jesus Christ 4 There is a fourth sort also that fall far short of Christ too and yet goe beyond all these they goe beyond works and beyond this Faith also which we have spoken of which was not a lively Faith in Christ whereby we are justified but men justifie themselves by it God doth not justifie them Now this fourth sort come plainly to see that their Faith is shaken and they dare not look God in the face to justifie the truth of their Faith before him it is true many an heavenly spirited man cannot tell what will become of him nor can he tell whether his Faith be sound but many an Hypocrite also is so far convinced that he cannot tell what will become of him nor can he say that his Faith is right nor that he is able to believe What saith the soule now in such a case as this He will say I see it is not my Reformation nor my Faith that will serve the turn what is it then I see that now I must waite upon Christ that I may believe and unto him I must seek for helpe Is not this soule in a state of everlasting fellowship with Christ Truly this is that which the Lord many times bringeth the souls of his Servants unto but he leaveth them not there if he mean to doe them good for I would examine again how camest thou to waite upon Jesus Christ thou hast been driven out of conceit of thy former Faith and so hast been forced and hast seen a necessity to wait upon Christ for Faith or else thou canst not believe force of Argument hath constrained thee thus far if thou hast taken up a course of waiting onely upon this ground here is a spark of old Adam still kept alive in thee Thou art able to seek and wait upon Christ and yet I cannot promise thee that thou hast any part or portion in him But a soule will say Hath not the Lord made gratious Promises to all those that seeke for him Hath he not said that all they are blessed that waite for him Isa 30.18 And am not I wrapped up hereby in a bundle of grace and peace Mind you there is no promise of life made to those that wait seek in their own strength who being driven to it have taken it up by their own resolutions though I grant it is true that every one that waiteth for and seeketh the Lord aright is driven unto it by the Lord yet if ever the Lord mean to save you he will rend as it were the caule from the heart I mean he will pluck away all the confidence you have built upon a as man would rend the intralls of a Beast from him so the Lord will bring you to a flat deniall of your selves and that you have neither good will nor deed as of your selves And you will find you know not what God will doe with you but this you know that whatsoever he doth he is most righteous When the Spirit of God cometh as a Comforter he will in this manner convince the soul of a man that he hath heretofore hung upon his reformations for hope comfort but now he is brought plainly to see and flatly to deny that he hath so much as one drop of the fatnes of the true Olive tree in him when he most trusted unto his own excellencies Now a man being thus far brought on doth not only deny himselfe in his judgement but in his will and is ready to say as David sometimes did If the Lord say he hath no pleasure in me here I am let him doe unto me as seemeth him good The Lord is righteous in all that cometh upon me this onely the soul hath for his support in such a case the Lord is able to doe all for me that I stand in need of If he shew me no mercy he is just if he be gratious I shall live to praise him Now when a mans will is thus subdued that he hath no will of his owne to be guided by but onely the will of God this is true brokennesse of heart when not onely the judgement but the heart and will is broken The soule being thus convinced that neither his working nor believing nor waiting nor seeking as of himselfe will doe him any good there is no mercy that he can chalenge for any goodnesse sake of his owne then cometh the Holy Ghost in some declaration of Gods free love and taketh possession of the heart and then the soule beginneth to pant after Jesus Christ and nothing in Heaven but him nor in the Earth besides him The soule being thus wrought upon beginneth to put forth it selfe towards the Lord Jesus but the Holy Ghost having taken possession before helpeth our infirmities Rom. 8.26,27 He alone must help us and no other FINIS CERTAIN QUERIES Tending to Accommodation and Communion of Presbyterian Congregationall Churches BY Mr JOHN COTTON late Teacher of the Church at Boston in New-England Published by a Friend to whom the Author himselfe sent them over not long before his Death LONDON Printed by M. S. for John Allen and Francis Eglesfield in Pauls Church-yard 1654. Certain Queries tending to the mutuall Accommodation Communion of Presbyterian and Congregationall Churches delivered in 11 Propositions humbly presented both to the Consideration and Examination of them according to God BY Mr JOHN COTTON The 1. Querie Whether may it not be safely acknowledged that the Congregations of Christians subject to Presbyteriall Government preaching and professing the Truth of the Gospel and not over-growne with ignorant and scandalous Persons are true and holy Churches of Christ BEcause such Churches for the Matter of them consist of visible Saints at least a principall part of them especially when they present themselves to sit downe before the Lord at his Table And for the Forme they doe agree together in choosing their owne Minister in attending duely to the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments and in submitting to the Doctrine of the Gospel which implyeth a reall and visible though implicite profession of the Covenant of grace requisite to Church-estate Object The Parish-Churches in England were Antichristian if not in their first Institution yet at least for these many hundred yeares and were never since unchurched nor new moulded out of their Anchristian Apostacy Answ 1. The Gospel of Christ was preached and received in England ten yeares before it was in Rome as may appeare by Gildas and may be inferred from Baronius also Annal. Anno Christi 35.5 45.1 and that by the Ministry of Apostles and Apostolick men who doubtlesse did at first institute Churches not after the Pattern of Rome which then was not a Church but according to the Patterne of the Apostles 2. Neither were they unchurched by the Antichristian Apostacy which afterwards grew upon them as a Leprosie but were onely corrupted and polluted even
is not possible that God should lye Mal. 3.6 Hence springeth our eternity perseverance Rom. 11.29 Phil. 1.6 Though the sence of the Covenant doth require it of Abraham to give himself back again unto the Lord though that be Abrahams duty and the Lord doth intend it yet his intendment is to imply that he doth receive Abraham and his seed to be his people for ever Josh 24.3 Thus mind ye the Lord dealeth in the Coven of Grace he looketh towards those that look not towards him as is held forth Hos 3.3 where the Lord biddeth the Prophet love a woman that was an Adulteresse and say unto her Thou shalt be for me and I will be for thee This is a branch of the Covenant when the Lord doth undertake to receive Abraham and his seed unto himself his giving himselfe unto them doth breed a reciprocall returning of them unto him Quest Now it may be demanded How did the Lord take Abraham and his seed to be his people Answ By a double Act as 1 Of Preparation not on Abrahams part or on his seeds part but on his own part the Lord prepared them 2 The Lord did invest him with the blessings of this Covenant 1 For Preparation the Lord prepareth them by a double work of his Spirit which are manifest in all the seed of Abraham Elect of God 1 By a Spirit of Bondage whereby he cutteth off the seed of Abraham from all worldly intanglements and delights thus God took Abraham and brought him from beyond the Flood and so doth he take men off from their Countreys and Fathers houses he seperates them from all such things that he might draw them unto himselfe Thus he dealt with the Children of Israel and called them to be a singular people unto himselfe and yet but in a Covenant of works Deut. 7.6,7,8 Thus doth the Lord deale with all those whom he receiveth to be a people unto himself and by this spirit of bondage he draweth them from all their sinfull lusts and passions so as that they can find no hope of mercy in any thing and this is properly a Seal of the Covenant of works as the Spirit of Adoption is a seale of the Covenant of Grace Rom. 8.15 Now by this bondage the Lord first setteth home unto the Consciences of men the weight and danger of their sins and it is the usuall manner of God to give a Covenant of Grace by leading men first into a Covenant of works as it is his constant manner to work by contraries and so to thrust men out of doors that they may have fellowship with himselfe at length I had a gratious father will the poor soule say but now I may goe and shake my ears like a poor wretch for so indeed he is cast out of the Covenant and favour of God to his sense and feeling but thus the Lord doth even shut him out of doors that he may open to him another and a better way 2 The Lord also Prepareth his people by a Spirit of Burning which upon a spirit of bondage he doth shed abroad into the hearts of men This we read of Mal. 4.1 It is spoken of the Ministry of John the Baptist which did burn like an oven against all the Scribes and Pharisees and left them neither the root of Abrahams Covenant nor the branch of their own good works he cutteth them off from the Covenant of Abraham Mat. 3.9 Think not to say that you have Abraham to be your father c. and so by cutting them off from the root he leaveth them no ground to trust on From their good works the Lord Jesus Christ also cutteth them off Mat. 6.2.5.16 This was a Spirit of Burning which the Lord conveyed by the M nistry of Christ and of John Baptist to burn up all the Hypocrites like stubble and the beauty of their works was blasted by it and this is Gods usuall manner of dealing Now there are many under a Spirit of bondage that never came under a Spirit of burning yet many under a Spirit of bondage doe fear the Lord with some kind of reverence unto his Ordinances for as an Angel of God they received Paul and yet for many of them they were but under the Law and therefore the Apostle saith He is afraid of them least he hath bestowed his labour in vaine Gal. 4.9,10,11 compared with ver 21. where he saith Tell me ye that desire to be under the Law c. A signe that this bondage under which they were did not onely bind them under fear of wrath but did bind them also to obey the Ordinances of God with some kind of devout reverence Now you have many men that rest there but when the Lord doth carry men further then he sendeth a spirit of burning thereby to blast all the fruits and branches of their righteousnesse and to burn up all that under a Covenant of works a man hath wrought and this is that which the Prophet Esay speaketh of Isa 4.4 that the Lord will purge away the filth of the daughter of Sion with a spirit of judgement and of burning The one is a spirit of sanctification and the other is a consuming fire which forceeth them not to build any comfort upon any works that they have done This may Hypocrites reach unto in their judgements so as that they may be convinced that they have neither root within them nor branch growing upon them and yet in the mean while they may not come unto a Spirit of Adoption but hereby also the Lord useth to prepare his people Some blesse themselves in worldly courses and never come unto a spirit of bondage some doe find comfort in their performances and never saw the vanity of their own righteousnesse but there are those whom the Lord doth carry further unto a spirit of burning even unto a sensible feeling of Gods wrath burning against whatsoever is as stubble such is a mans own gifts and parts and worth so that now the poor soule findeth that he hath no root of any good Covenant but seeth it to be an outward face of the Covenant that he doth rest upon and now he seeth no green branch of righteousnesse remaining but all is blasted and broken in pieces according to what the Prophet Esay saith Chap. 40.6,7 and so the Lord cometh to leave a man neither root nor branch for by a spirit of bondage the Lord blasteth all flesh but when it cometh unto the goodlinesse of flesh that is consumed by a Spirit of burning 2 As God thus prepareth us for himselfe so he doth give himself unto us and taketh possession of us by his blessed Spirit The Father giveth himself and his Son by his blessed Spirit for the Spirit it is by which he doth visit the hearts of his people and this is the main blessing of the Covenant of Grace For the better cleering of it this may be demanded Quest How doth the Lord give himselfe unto his people